Vermont adds Barley -by Gianni PascucciThe Vermont Frost Heaves announced the signing of Tyrone Barley (6'1''-G-81, college: St.Joseph's) on thursday. With his addition, the Frost Heaves try to react to the major losses of Terrance Greene (6'4''-G/F-81, college: Nevada), out most likely for the year with an ACL injury, and Dwayne Lee (6'0''-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.Joseph's), out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Barley is expecte to be yet in uniform for the upcoming home-and-away series with the Atlanta Vision.

Manchester and Vermont again winning. But.... -by Gianni PascucciAfter dominating their first meeting in the Bahamas 138-91, the Manchester Millrats swept the Bahama All-Pro Show, winning the second game 148-100. In this same week, the Vermont Frost Heaves defeated the Montreal Royal 92-82 on the road, despite the loss of three important players due to injuries. The supremacy of these two teams in the 2007-08 edition of the league is clear, but it is questionable if we can talk again of a professional league at this point of the season. Consider this, please: between February 24 and February 29 (only three weeks before the end of the ABA regular season) only 16 of the scheduled 45 games have been played; all the other ones have been cancelled, and more of the half of the games scheduled till March 19, the last day of the regular season, have been yet cancelled the same. The risk in the ABA is that Mr. Newman will not be able to find enough teams to fill the 2008 playoff grid when it will be the time. Of course, the solution could be a reduced tournment with only few teams (for example a 'Final Six' with Manchester, Vermont, the Chinese team, San Diego, Orange County and a sixth team chosen at random between the few yet breathing at the end of March), but the point is that, in our opinion, the league needs of an immediate, drastic U-turn, to leave the 'parody league' environment in which it has fallen in last years and to rebuild a sort of reliability for fans, players, coaches, professional operators.

Quilmes mar del plata released Antonio Reynolds (200-F-77, college: Rhode Island) (13.4 pts 8.6 rebs 2.5 as in 36 games). Antonio started in a good level but then had some injuries and could not show his best skills. His replacement is Harold Arceneaux (198-F-77, college: Weber St.) who comes from Mexico.

Boca Juniors released Jamal Robinson (196-F/G-73, agency: Interperformances, college: Virginia) (5.4 pts 2.9 reb in 16 games) and they signed Antonio Reynolds. He probably will not stay in the team for the rest of the season due to his injuries but at least will play this weekend. Boca also loaned Federico Aguerre (203-F/C-88) to La union Formosa (TNA) for the rest of the season. They also released Juan Sartorelli (190-G-83) because Raymundo Legaria (178-G-80) revovered of his injury and will start to play with the team . They had released Cheick YaYa Dia previously.

Andres Landoni (204-C-90) was signed by Libertad Sunchales. The same team had released Ryan Carroll.

MUHARRAQ DOWN NUWAIDRAT -by Yousef AhmedMUHARRAQ poured it in from long distance to post a well-deserved 101-71 blowout over Nuwaidrat last night in the Bahrain Basketball League.

The victors connected on a scintillating 14 three-pointers in just 31 attempts in the game. They secured their 11th win of the year after 16 tries, as they strengthened their hold of the number three spot for the Golden Square semifinal round.

Four Muharraq players finished with 20 points or more in the contest. American professional Rah-Shaun Roberts led the way with a game-high 23.

The win was a much-needed result for their team, who earlier this week suffered a demoralising defeat to rivals Al Hala.

'We needed this badly,' head coach John Wojtak told the GDN. 'In our last game, we were embarrassed.

'But today our guys did well to come together and overcome our disappointment. We did everything we could to win. We tried a few new things and they paid off.

Veteran forward Abdulmajeed Shahram torched the nets with seven three-pointers, including one just before the final buzzer that sealed the 30-point victory.

Muharraq burst out of the gates and were already ahead by 25 points, 44-19, midway through the second quarter.

And after Nuwaidrat cut the deficit to 13 midway through the final period, Roberts and guard Mohammed Hassan buried successive triples to extend the lead once more (80-61) and virtually seal the win.

Shahram, Hassan and point guard Mohammed Abdulmajeed each finished with 21 points. Houston had 22 points while court general Hussain Taqi finished with 21 for Nuwaidrat, who dropped to a 9-7 win-loss record.

In yesterday's other game, Jamal Holden scored 34 points to lead defending champions Al Ahli to an 84-71 win over Al Ettihad. Ahli retained sole possession of first place with their 15th win.

League action continues today with Al Najma playing Isa Town and Al Hala facing Bahrain Club. Tomorrow, Manama take on Sitra in the game of the week.

SOURCE: GDN

*****************************************************BALTIC LEAGUE

Challenge Cup: Final Four semifinals -by Eurobasket NewsVEF Riga and Nevezis won their semifinal games to meet each other in the Final of Challenge Cup. In the Latvian battle VEF Riga beat Liepajas Lauvas, while Lithuanian overtime thriller saw Nevezis outscoring Techasas. VEF Riga overcame Liepajas Lauvas 94:79 to solve the task in the second half. Liepajas Lauvas started better and led in the opening tip. Moreover the latter had 5 points advantage at the half as Mareks Jurevicus (198-F-85) gave his team 37:42. VEF Riga woke up later in the game and won the next two quarters. Evgeni Kolesnikov led the winners with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Sheleketo nailed 21, while Jurijs Aleksejevs (201-F-85) collected 17 points and 7 rebounds. Mareks Jurevicus top-scored with 27 points in the losing effort. Nevezis and Techasas could not find out the winner during the four quarters. An outstanding performance from both Lithuanian squads was seen only by 100 fans. Techasas won the opening quarter 18:29 and enjoyed 20;25 in the second. It gave them 38:54 when Stasaitis made a jump-shot. Nevezis came back to the game after 24:11 in the third period. Sakinis was glad to tie the game in the beginning of the fourth and Aidas Viskontas (185-G-86) made the score even after the fourth quarter. With 14:8 in overtime Nevezis advanced to the Final. Aidas Viskontas paced the winners with 25 points. Benas Veikalas (193-G-83, college: Metro St.) nailed 19 and Williams had 17. Chris Hill (178-G-83, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) finished the night with 21 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Due to the concert this weekend all games have been moved to next week, making it an exciting week to the end of the regular season with four (4) teams battling for three (3) positions remaining. Making the majority of next weeks games playoff caliber.

Diamonds and SHJC/BNE Harpies Pull Victories in BECOL Tournament!!! -by David MaganaLast Saturday night at the Falcon Field in San Ignacio the BECOL Tournament continued with three games played. In the first match, Young Stars defeated Cayo Ballers by 53 - 26 in a U-20 match. For the winning team, Regis Morris scored 12 points and 5 steals while Abel Simpson - 9 points and 4 assists. For the losing team, Shimeon Simpson scored 12 points and Brandon Teck - 8 points & 8 boards.In the second match, The Belize Bank Diamonds gave a lesson to the Spartans whipping them by a score of 87 - 34. From beginning to end, Diamonds led the quarters in almost all categories. At the end, Lester Cadle (188-G-80) finished with a double double, 26 points, 10 boards & 4 steals while Stanley Flowers - 13 points, 6 rebounds and had 5 steals for the Diamonds. For the Spartans, Regis Morris scored 8 points.In the last game of the night, Sacred Heart Junior College/BNE Harpy Eagles defeated Maratown Patriots by a score of 63 - 46. From the first quarter the Harpies went up by 10 points and kept the lead till the end. The third quarter was close due to the many turnovers given by the Hapries which the Patriots failed to convert nevertheless got the closest by 7 points but Halil Alcoser scoring two back to back three pointers put the game in the freezer for the Harpies. In the last quarter, the Patriots were overcame by unsportsman-like conduct getting back to back technicals and as a result several players fouled out. In the end, the Patriots fell by 17 points and the Harpies are now a perfect 2 - 0. For SHJC/BNE, Mervin Castillo (-C) had a double double, 13 points and 13 rebounds, Lucas Wordsworth (188-F) - 13 points and Halil Alcoser - 10 points.

Boyko Mladenov will make his debut against Olimpija on Sunday -by Valentin AnguelovThe Bulgarian Boyko Mladenov (212-C/F-81, agency: Interperformances) will make his first appearance for KK Split in the next game from the Adriatic League in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, Sunday at noon, 13:00 Bulgarian time. Their opponent is going to be Olimpija, who are currently occupying the third place and are aiming at a higher position before the end of the regular stage of this championship. With only four rounds to go, KK Split doesn't stand a great chance to be one of the teams to ensure a spot in the League's Playoffs.

Mladenov arrived in Split last night and tomorrow is leaving for Ljubljana with the team. The best player for the Croatians Marlon Garnett, drops out of the group for the match due to an ankle injury he received during one of the recent practices. The same goes for Hrvoje Peric who will miss the game because of an illness. However, Deyan Ivanov, the other Bulgarian in the team is going. He gives a continuously good performance with 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game. He hasn't missed a game for KK Split this season.

The head coach of Bulgarian Men's National team Pini Gershon will be a special guest of this season HDI All Star Game, which will be held on 8th March in the new basketball arena in Samokov. The news, which were published in 'Tema Sport' daily sports newspaper a week ago, today were confirmed by the Organization committee. 56-years old legend will arrive in Sofia a day before the show. This will be the first visit of Israeli authority in the home land of his grandfather, after he signed a contract with Bulgarian basketball federation on 10th December lasy year. For the first time 3 times European champion with Maccabi Tel Aviv will watch live the best players from the country, who he will inivite to play for him in this summer Euro 2009 qualifications. Pini will leave Sofia at 9th March, but will come back in the end of the same month, when he will be at the standings again in the gym in Samokov, but for the National Cup tournament.

CSKA a tough rival for Lukoil, loses in the last five minutes -by Valentin AnguelovCSKA lost its home game against Lukoil with 82-94. Despite having only one and 'a half' of their three American players against the super favourite, CSKA received well-deserved admirations by their fans as well as by the impartial spectators by making the game as hard as possible for the champions and maintaining the intrigue till the end of the game. Mike Henderson's injury put him out of the court for the rest of the season while Lavell Payne's called in question his participation in the game. This, however, didn't stop their team give a great performance and threaten Lukoil's 25th win in a row. They, on the other hand, showed that they need to play seriously enough just for five minute to win a game from the national championship.

Lukoil started rather casually allowing CSKA to lead 7-0, before they score their first basket (a three-pointer by Riste Stefanov). For CSKA an impressive start made Hristo Nikolov with a slam and a three-pointer and Georgi Davidov with three baskets in the starting four minutes. The team even managed to keep an eleven-point lead for more than a minute, something not many teams will be proud of after the end of the season. Pero Antic (210-F-82, agency: Interperformances), on the other hand, was still the well known scoring machine (8 points in the first quarter) and with the offensive contribution of their other tall player, Nenad Canak, the champions were able to reduce CSKA's lead to 5 points at the end of the first quarter (20-15).

At the start of the second quarter CSKA were still leading but after 12 minutes of play Lukoil finally tied the score 22-22 and after that took the lead 26-28. Then the injured Lavell Payne appeared for CSKA but no substitutions from Rosen Barchovski could change the inevitable ending from this moment on. At 28-31 a foul plus a technical violation were called against Ludmil Hadjisotirov . Larry O'Bannon was perfect from the free-throw line and after a field goal by Antic and the first of two three-pointers made by Riste Stefanov the guests were already ahead by 12 points after 9 unanswered points in less than a minute. The second-three pointer by Stefanov gave his team a lead of 14 points (31-45) but then CSKA answered with some good offensive plays by Josh Washington and Sergei Tsvetkov. At the end of the second quarter Pero Antic decided to follow Hadjisotirov's example and after a personal foul against him was also whistled for a technical. That allowed CSKA to get back into the game and they were trailing by only 2 points at the half (43-45).

At the beginning of the second half Krum Doychinov scored for a tie and from this moment on the game went point for point disappointingly for Lukoil. The only exception was a brief moment when Lukoil were leading by 7 points (48-55) but that was quickly compensated by their opponents and the third quarter finished with only a 3-point lead (66-69).

The last quarter started with the same repeating scenario and inspired by the efforts of the injured Lavell Payne CSKA continued to fight. That lasted until 5 minutes before the end of the game when Zeljko Lukaic's players decided to finally show their real class and Lukoil made an 11-0 run in three minutes (75-90). The final score was 94-82.

For CSKA Lavell Payne scored 16 points and gathered 6 rebounds in 21 minutes of play. Josh Washington added 21 but the star was Hristo Nikolov, who made a unique game with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists (only 2 points short of a triple-double). For Lukoil Antic made his routine double-double scoring 28 points and collecting 11 rebounds, while Canak and Stefanov added 18 and 17 points for their team's success.

*****************************************************CAPE VERDE

“Betinho” changes Cantabria for Breogan -by Pedro GomesThe Cape Verdean born, naturalized Portuguese forward, Joao Gomes (199-F-85) is the most recent reinforcement of Breogan, fourth place team in the LEB Gold Spanish league. 'Betinho' leaves Cantabria, which is at the bottom of the league table, to join a team that is fighting to move up to the ACB league, considered to be the best European league.

Breogan came to an agreement with Cantabria to acquire the Cape Verdean born player. The 23 year old player joined, immediately, his new team, and could suit up this Friday against Galiza.

Contracted to supplant the absence of the injured US player, Zach Morley, 'Betinho' is described, on Breogan site, as an 'important reinforcement 'and 'one of the most promising values of the European basketball '.

Betinho made the usual medical tests and was presented yesterday, Thursday, by President Raul Lopez and Coach Paco Garcia; receiving the team jerseys with the number he loves to play with, 15.

Breogan occupies, currently, the fourth place of the classification, with 14 victories and 7 defeats, behind Bruesa, CAI Saragoca, and Alicante, all with 16 wins, and 5 losses.

Few Surprises in National Team Selection -by Arthur VolbertThere were few suprises in the selection of the 18-man national team for the Beijing Olympics. The most significant omission from the team was Mo Ke, who had played on the last four national teams. But Mo had an awful season this year and so did not make the cut.

Bateer and Tang Zhengdong, two slow but massive centers who have excelled in the CBA, did not make the squad. Coach Jonas Kauslauskas likely felt that they were too immobile to be effective against international competition despite their success against CBA-caliber players. Zhang Songtao, another massive center who was on the 2006 World Championship team, was also left off the Olympic squad.

Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi can play center if Yao Ming does not recover in from his injury. Zhang Kai, like Yi and Wang, can play both center and power forward. Du Feng (206-C/F-81) Ding Jinhui and Li Xiaoxu are more mobile power forwards. Du and Ding can also play some at small forward. If Yao does not recover in time for the Olympics the Chinese team is likely to feature mobility. If Yao does come back, he needs mobile big men to surround him.

Li Nan made the 18-man cut and could make the team for his veteran leadership. But my guess is if Yao returns in time Li will be passed over for the young and athletic budding superstar, Xu Yong. If Yao does not return, Li will make the squad even though he has lost a half-step.

Yang Ming and Gong Songlin, two previous favorites of coach Kauslauskas, did not make the team. Both have lost something because of prior injuries and are injury-prone. Lu Xiaoming and Hu Xuefeng are too small to succeed internationally at point guard and their CBA experience does not prepare them to be heady point guards in international competition.

Zhang Qingpeng, like Chen Jianghua, is more of a small combo guard than a point guard. Zhang's only chance to make the team is if Chen gets hurt again. Xu Yong gets the nod over Wang Lei at reserve small forward because Wang is very inconsistent and likes to chuck up the ball even when he isn't hitting. Chen gets the last slot on the team as instant offense off the bench since there is no other player in China at the moment who can do the things Chen can do. He makes a good backcourt tandem with 6-9 Sun Yue as their strengths tend to make up for their partner's deficiencies.

Eurobasket.com made an exclusive interview with Rakis Karagiannis (190-G-78, college: Lynn), the Cypriot player who rejuvenated this season in the B' Division league with Anagennisi Yermasogeias jersey. His team is currently at the top of the league and the top favorite team to play in the A1 the season 2008-2009.

Eurobasket: After 12 years in the Cyprus and American courts, and your experiences with AEL, Keravnos and Apollon team, what is your opinion about Cyprus basketball in general? Have you seen any progress these 12 years, other than the arrival of dozens Bosman players from all over Europe?Rakis: Yes, I believe there is a progress by Cypriot players and Cypriot coaches. Also, having International basketball events in Cyprus has really helped our league's name to be heard around Europe. However, there is still much to improve in order to bring back the fans of the game.

Eurobasket: Can you briefly describe me the differences or similarities (if any) of the American college basketball (being in Lynn University) Rakis: Well besides different basketball rules I believe that the coaching style is totally different in the United States making their game much faster and exciting.

Eurobasket: What is your opinion about referee's level in Cyprus? Are they well educated in basketball? Do they have the physical strength? Can they call in other European courts? Are they to be trust?Rakis: I think Cypriot referees improved in recent years. They need much more support from coaches and players during the games. I am sure they have the physical strength and some of them could even referee abroad. Personally, I trust that they call a fair game.

Eurobasket: What is your opinion about the level of teams such us AEL and Keravnos do they represent the Cyprus reality or they are just two presidents who loves the game and invest in their teams?Rakis: Keravnos and Ael represented Cyprus more than well in Europe. I believe these two teams put Cyprus on the basketball map. Both presidents love the game and invested very much for their teams to succeed.

Eurobasket: What is your opinion about the Cyprus Basketball Federation? Do they work with a target/dream? Are they organized enough? Do they know the subject?Rakis: There is an improvement but I wish our federation could take more examples by other European or even American basketball federations.

Eurobasket: What is to be done in order to increase the level and interest in Cyprus?Rakis: The basketball level has been increased in Cyprus but it would be good to see more Cypriot players involved seriously in the First division league. With more Cypriot players being involved I believe the league would become more interesting as it was back in the 90's.

Eurobasket: Why the courts are empty? Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, Makabi Tel Aviv, Aris etc traveled in Cyprus for the International tournaments and the courts were empty. Why? Do you thing basketball is recognizable in Cyprus? Rakis: I believe games should become more entertaining to attract fans. However, that is still difficult to happen because some other type of spectators is keeping away these fans of the game. As far as the big tournaments, low attendance could be because of bad location, bad timing or bad advertising.

Eurobasket: What is the reason of your decision to play in a second division team?Rakis: I work as a full time employee and nowadays it is really hard to follow the demands of a 1st division basketball team. (Double practices, traveling). In the 2nd division the practice schedule is much more flexible for me, even though the level and the antagonism in the team is quite high.

Eurobasket: How do you describe the level of the 2nd division in compare to the 1st?Rakis: Obviously there is a big gap because most players in 1st division are fully professional. I believe the 1st division has a much better quality and higher level of basketball, not to mention much more professional basketball facilities, in terms of Cypriot quality though, our team has a crama of very good and experienced players.

Eurobasket: What are your plans and your expectations for the season 2007-2008?Rakis: My plan for this year is to help my team as much as I can. My expectations are that we should take all teams seriously and finish at the top of the league by the end of the season. Eurobasket: Thanks a lot and wish all the best to you and your new team, Anagennisi Yermasogeias.

(It is worth mentioned that Rakis Karagiannis is among the top performers in the Cyprus B' league and among the reasons why his team is at the top of the league the first 17 weeks and figuring in the top of the league)

*****************************************************D-LEAGUE

Stampede Take Down D-Fenders in Matchup of Top Teams -by Surujh RoopnarineIdaho Stampede (93) at Los Angeles D-Fenders (90)A driving lay-up by Randy Livingston (6'4''-G-75, college: LSU) with 47 seconds left in regulation was the difference as the Idaho Stampede escaped Los Angeles with a 93-90 victory. The first place Stampede improved to 26-8 while the D-Fenders fall to 22-11. The matchup of the D-League's elite lived up to its billing as there were four ties and nine lead changes in the final quarter. Randy Livingston led all scorers with a game high 27 points while Sean Banks (6'8''-F-85, agency: Edge Sports, college: Memphis) collected 24 points for LA.STAMPEDE: Randy Livingston (27p+7rb+8as+5to), Luke Jackson (17p), Lance Allred (11p+9rb), Ernest Scott (14p)D-FENDERS: Sean Banks (24p), Brian Chase (18p+8rb), Stephane Lasme (11p+10rb+6bs), Jelani McCoy (10p+9rb)

Tulsa 66ers (112) at Albuquerque Thunderbirds (103)The visiting 66ers took advantage of a 36 point explosion from Mike Hall (6'8''-F-84, college: George Washington) along with sold team shooting (52.6% FG) to comeback and defeat the host Thunderbirds. Hall, who has spent time with Washington in the NBA last season, was 12-25 from the floor and a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe on his way to the game high 36 points and 14 rebounds.Down five at halftime, Tulsa outscored Albuquerque by seven in the third and then held on to the lead in the fourth. Kevin Pittsnogle (6'11''-C-84, college: W.Virginia) scored a team high 25 for the Thunderbirds, including 6-11 from the behind the arc.66ERS: Mike Hall (36p+14rb+7as), David Noel (23p+8rb+5to), Adam Harrington (19p), Jeremy Kelly (10p)T-BIRDS: Kevin Pittsnogle (25p+6rb), Jamaal Thomas (16p+7rb+8as), Josh Gross (16p), Majic Dorsey (10p+6as)

Nichols Re-Assigned to Iowa -by Surujh RoopnarineThe Chicago Bulls have re-assigned rookie guard Demetris Nichols (6'8''-F-84, college: Syracuse) to their D-League affiliate Iowa Energy. Nichols was last on assignment between December 18th and January 7th.A prolific scorer from Syracuse, Nichols appeared in nine games during his first assignment, averaging 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 blocks in 36.9 minutes.

Player MovementColorado: Signed Luke Anderson (6'6''-G/F-82, college: Minn.St.-Mankato) to fill the roster spot of Brian Greene who has left the team. Anderson began the season overseas before joining Rio Grande Valley in January.Los Angeles: Re-acquired Abdoulaye N'Diaye and waived Brian Morrison.Ft. Wayne: Signed Rob Griffin (6'6''-F/G-78, college: Iowa). The former Iowa swingman was an All-Star in the CBA during the 2006-07 season and began this season in Lithuania.Albuquerque: Signed former N.C. State standout Julius Hodge (6'7''-G-83, college: N.Carolina St.). Originally the 20th selection of the 2005 NBA Draft by Denver, Hodge has played parts of the last two seasons in the D-League.

Exciting Week 3 of Top 16 -by Eurobasket NewsWeek 3 of top 16 came to an end with two players tying for the best individual performance in the round. CSKA lost in Spain and real was upset in Israel. Tau Ceramica and Montepaschi Siena remain undefeated and improved to 3-0. Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos and Terence Morris (206-F-79, college: Maryland) of Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv shared MVP honours. Diamantidis had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Panathinaikos in a 75:84 loss from Montepaschi Siena. Morris had 16 points and 15 rebounds in Maccabi's home win against Real Madrid.CSKA Moscow lost to Unicaja 67:72 that climbed back to the fight for a spot in the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Daniel Santiago (216-C-76, college: N.Mexico) scored 20 points and Haislip added 10 points. Jiri Welsch (200-F-80) finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds for Unicaja, while Siskauskas paced CSKA with 12. Real was upset by Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv that shot to the top Group F with a 94:75 win. As it was mentioned Terence Morris had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Felipe Reyes led Madrid with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Louis Bullock (186-G-76, college: Michigan) scored 15. Tau Ceramica is 3-0 now thrashing Aris TT Bank 69:87 in Greece. Sergi Vidal and Tiago Splitter (211-C/F-85, agency: Interperformances) paced the winners each with 16 points. Bracey Wright had 24 points for Aris.Montepaschi took also 3-0 record after a 84:75 home win over defending champion Panathinaikos. Bootsy Thornton (194-G-77, college: St.John's) led the winners with 23 points, while Terrell McIntyre added 13.

First win of Partizan Igokea in TOP 16 and reactions after the game ! -by Dragan JankovskiPartizan Igokea grabbed the first win in Euroleague TOP 16 beating Turkish Efes Pilsen 78-65 at the front of almost 7.000 people in Belgrade's hall Pionir. Efes wasn't capable to resist Partizan mostly because their 4 key players Drew Nicholas, Loren Woods, Andre Hutson and Rashad Wright refused to flight to Serbia because of security concerns despite assurances of safety from host city and the club. Like usually, atmosphere in Pionir was amazing and without any incident. More over the Turkish team, especially David Blatt , Scoonie Penn (178-G-77, college: Ohio St.), Kenny Gregory (197-G/F-78, college: Kansas) and Ermal Kurtoglu (207-C-80, agency: Beo Basket), got a huge ovation when they show up on the floor. Partizan dominated in the paint in the first half having 11 rebounds more than Efes which outcomed with plus 11 on the half time. At the beginning of the last quarter Partizan extended lead to 62-47 what was enough for the comfortable win. Without above mentioned players Efes doesn't have a power to be an equal rival. Center Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) was unstoppable in the paint collecting 20 points and 6 rebounds having very good 12-10 for 2FG. USA PG Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.) followed him with 14 points and 4 assists. On the other side Kenny Gregory added 19 points and 5 rebounds while Ermal Kurtoglu had 13 points and 4 rebounds.

Press conference after the game was very interesting as Partizan's head coach Dusko Vujosevic thanked a lot to the fans, Efes Pilsen, Euroleague and the Turkish ambassador in Belgrade. He also stated that Belgrade was always friendly host to everobody and no one who comes with sports motive doesn't have anything to worry about. Vujosevic finished the conference with words: 'This game was a test and we showed we are more than capable to organize big events in this situation. We showed it is possible and no one who doesn't want to come in Belgrade because of security reasons is in deep delusion'.

Highly respected coach David Blatt after the game said: 'Partizan was better tonight and deserved to win. I want to congratulate Partizan's fans because of fantastic hospitality. It doesn't surprise me because I know that basketball is in heart of Serbian people. Players who showed up today hadn't any doubt to travel or not. My opinion about the players who didn't want to travel because of the security reasons is that it is totally unacceptable. Sport should be a bridge between chaos and normality and here wasn't any kind of chaos. Second, these guys eat together, work very hard and bleed together. They leaved the other guys alone on the battle field tonight.'

KORISLIIGA: Torpan Pojat signed new American players -by Rauno HurmalainenTorpan Pojat (Helsinki) has now four American players on the roster. Guards Josh Gonner (188-G-82, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: S.Carolina) and Tyson Patterson (175-G-78, college: Appalachian St.) continue, F Takais Brown (203-F, college: SE Illinois JC) and G James Allen (196-G-79, agency: Interperformances, college: Montevallo) will be the new names and faces on Team roster. Allen comes from Estonia, where he has played two seasons on BC Kalev and BC Rakvere rosters. Brown comes from United States of America, where he was the leading scorer at U. of Georgia as a Jr (2006-07, 14,2 ppg), but was dismissed from Georgia basketball team as a Sr for violation of team policies. Brown then visited shortly in Puerto Rico and will be in Finland this Saturday.

ASVEL had no problem bouncing back from last week's home loss with a24pt rout over Chalon. ASVEL has been shaky on the road this seasonplaying in a lot of close games, but had no trouble traveling toChalon winning 82 - 58. Chalon got beat down from the start tofinish managing to only score 9pts in the second quarter. ASVEL hadcontributions up and down the roster with 5 players scoring in doubledigits and every player that touched the court scored. UcheNsonwu-Amadi led the way with 21pts while shooting 9 of 14 from thefield along with grabbing 8rebs. Laurent Foirest (197-F-73) had a solid allaround game with 10pts, 5rebs, 3steals, and 5ast. Chalon's BryanBracey was the only player score in double figures while 17pts on 6 of8 shooting from the field.

Hyeres-Toulon 84 - 75 Cholet.......Cholet is the hottest team in the LNB

Gravelines 75 - 71 Vichy...........Gavelines looks for a home upset to stay away from the bottom 3

*****************************************************FYR MACEDONIA

Round-up of Round 24 in the First league -by Todor ChalovskiLeague leaders Feni Industri beat Fersped Rabotnicki 61:52 to stay top of the First Macedonian league. This is the 11th straight win for Feni Industri, and fifthr straight league defeat for Fersped Rabotnicki - their greatest losing streak in club history in domestic competition for more that 15 years.Donald Cole lead the scoring with 14 points, while Dimitar Mirakovski and Ognen Stojanovski were only Fersped Rabotnicki players with double figure scores - scoring modest 10 points each.

MZT FON Univerzitet beat Vardar Osiguruvanje 101:93 thanks to a late charge. This is the fifth win in the last 6 matches for Marjan Lazovski team. Lazovski is a former Vardar Osiguruvanje coah, leading that team to two championship finals, one National Cup, and two more cup finals.

Dime Tasovski had an outstanding game, scoring 32 points and leading Strumica 2005 to a 94:76 win at Swisslion Pelister.

Amak SP won easily away to outsiders Karpos Sokoli 2000 89:72

*****************************************************GERMANY

Giraffes add young German Guard -by Moritz KorffTV Langen (2. Bundesliga Pro A) added the 19-year-old Guard Nick Goeller (186-G-88) to the roster. The German comes from BG Ober-Ramstadt and averaged 17.1 points in 17 games of this current season. Goeller spent two years in the US and played High School-basketball for the Southland Academy, before moving back to Germany in 2007. He has previously worked with Langen-Headcoach Frankie Ignjatovic who served on the same position in Ober-Ramstadt until 2005.

1. Bundesliga: Last signings of the season -by Moritz KorffThe Koeln 99ers (1. Bundesliga) officially confirmed the signing of Roy Booker (191-G-83, college: SE Missouri St.) today and also announced the arrival of a second newcomer just in time as the transfer period came to an end yesterday. Brian Greene (204-F-81, college: Colorado St.) will join the 99ers for the rest of this current season. The 26-year-old Forward owns a lot of experience in European basketball and played for teams in Poland, Belgium, France and Turkey since he finished his collegiate career in 2003. During the 2006-2007 season Greene scored 16.0 points per contest for French side Adecco ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne and grabbed 4.9 rebounds, while being named a 2007 Eurobasket.com All-French ProA Honorable Mention. After a short stint at Galatasaray Istanbul earlier this campaign, Greene returned to the USA and made the roster of the Colorado 14ers. He averaged 11.3 points and 5.1 boards in 22 games of the NBA D-League.

Meanwhile, local newspaper Volksfreund published today that also TBB Trier (1. Bundesliga) has brought in a fresh player: 32-year-old veteran Marshall Phillips (196-F-75, agency: Court Side, college: Appalachian St.) who spent most of his career as a pro in Mexico and US-Minor Leagues (USBL, CBA, NBDL). In 2002 Phillips made the NBDL All-Defensive Team while being a member of Roanoke Dazzle and received All-Star honors in the Venezuelan LPB, Mexican LNBP and the CBA (2005 and 2008). In the 2006-2007 season Phillips appereared in 35 games of the Belgian first division and averaged 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game for Passe Partout Basket Groot Leuven. Since November 07 he was suiting up for CBA-team Minot Skyrockets.

Tim Ohlbrecht stays in Bamberg one more year -by Moritz KorffTim Ohlbrecht (211-C/F-88) has signed a new contract that runs through the 2008-2009 season with the Brose Baskets Bamberg (1. Bundesliga). The 19-year-old Center is posting 3.1 ppg and 2.3 rpg in Bundesliga-action this season and also attracted the interest of other teams by his Euroleague-performances (13 appearances: 3.3ppg, 2.5rpg). The 2006-2007 Eurobasket.com All-Bundesliga Newcomer of the Year is considered as one of the most talented young German players and already attended the training camp of the German Men's National Team last year.

Paderborn makes deal with John Bynum -by Moritz KorffJohn Bynum (191-G-78, college: Metro St.) returns to Germany and will strengthen the roster of 1. Bundesliga-side digibu Baskets Paderborn. Bynum turned 30 years old only some days ago. He parted with USC Heidelberg (2. Bundesliga Pro A) in January due to injury trouble with his shoulder. During the past two seasons he suited up for Eisbaeren Bremerhaven, averaged 5.5 points, 2.2 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 31 games of the 2006-2007 campaign.

Tre Kelley (183-G-85, college: S.Carolina) is the news player to replace Mamadou N'Diaye (212-C-75, college: Auburn) in Panellinios Athens. Coach Elias Zouros selected a player who will be helping Grundy in the guard position.Robert Maras (216-C-78) and Egaleo will split ways right after the game against Rethymno in Crete. The German giant has a good offer from the Spanish LEB league. The two parties are splitting on a very proffesional way.

Haris Markopoulos and AEL 1964 split ways, the new head coach of AEL 1964, Giorgos Kalafatakis will have as a new assistant coach Grigoris GiasarisAfter Olympiakos (which made the deal three weeks ago) Panathinaikos agreed to financial terms with EUROSPORT 2 Channel. With this agreement over 30 million families in 43 countries will get the chance to watch (taped) games of the triple crowner in the Greek league - home games.

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The new head coach of Iraklis Thessalonikis will be Ilias Konstantinidis, the brother of Christos Konstantinidis who was the head coach of Iraklis last October.

Metropolitan League near to start -by Gianni PascucciThe tipoff of the 2008 edition of the Metropolitan League is scheduled for tomorrow, March 2. The league, however, is again without a President, because the election of Walfred Corado has been challenged by an opposing group, and no Executive Committee is in charge at the moment. It is probable that a new election will be held, for sure the ranking of the league will be very different, the reigning champions of Elite Sport will point on a group of young players, not so experienced, and are not expected to battle fo the title.

*****************************************************HONDURAS

Nacional de Ingenieros withdraw from Liga Centroamericana -by Gianni PascucciAt the last time, Hondurean team Nacional de Ingenieros - Tegucigalpa, that is also the reigning champion of the Central America Championship for Clubs, decided not to participate to the first edition of CentroAmerican League, due to organizing problems. The Liga is now made of two Groups of three teams, and its format is easier than announced: the first two teams of each group will advance to the Final Four competition, scheduled for mid-April.

*****************************************************HUNGARY

Cup 1/4 Final: ASE won away -by Tamas DeriThe team of ASE had one easy victory in teh first game in Kecskemet and made a great step into the Finala Four. The rematch will be played on the 5th of March in Paks.

Racers return three time IBL All-Star Sherick Simpson -by Trask FrostElgin, IL— The Elgin Racers have announced that Sherick Simpson (6'6''-G/F-75, college: Ft.Hays State) is returning to the team for the 2008 season. Simpson, a 6'6' forward, is a three time IBL All-Star and was the league's ninth leading scorer last year averaging 25.2 points per game.

Simpson played his college ball at Fort Hays State in Kansas, and was instrumental in leading that team to 49 consecutive victories and the 1996 National Championship. Fort Hays State is the last undefeated D2 national champion and that win streak is the fourth longest in NCAA history. Simpson was named the MVP of that 1996 national tournament and his team compiled a 63-2 record over the course of two years

Elgin Racers President/Head Coach, Michael Murphy - 'The Racers organization is thrilled that Sherick will be competing for us again this year. His experience and clutch play when the game is on the line are invaluable. He has been a winner his entire career and will be a key contributor as we defend our Midwest Division title and chase the overall IBL championship.'

The Racers kick off their 2008 season on Friday, April 4 with a road trip to Indiana to take on the Gary Steelheads. The Racers' home opener is versus the Holland Blast on Saturday, May 10. For more information, contact the Racers at (847) 337-9529 or visit www.elginracers.com.

Steelies pick up former Jayhawk, Blue Demon -by Trask FrostGary, IN—The Gary Steelheads have announced that versatile guard Marlon London (6'5''-G-80, agency: Tank Sports, college: De Paul) has come aboard for the Steelheads' inaugural season in the International Basketball League.

The 6'5' London had a stellar prep career at St. Joseph High School (Westchester), and was recruited by Roy Williams to play at Kansas University. London played two seasons for the Jayhawks before transferring to DePaul University to finish out his college career.

Steelheads' Head Coach Rob Spon - 'Marlon is a terrific pick up for our team because he is a great talent with local ties. His versatility makes him particularly valuable, as he can play the one, two or three spot effectively.'

The Steelheads' inaugural IBL season gets underway at the Genesis Center on Friday, March 14. Tickets start at $5—for more information, contact the Steelheads at (219) 883-3000 or visit www.steelheadshoops.com.

Holland Blast returning Dominick Melton, 2007 IBL All Star, from Germany! -by Lucius JonesOne of the most versatile frontcourt pieces in the IBL,Dominick Melton (6'6''-F, college: Wisc.-Parkside) has finally caught on over water and is making the most of it.

Coming out of Wisc.-Parkside, Dominick Melton was an unheralded player with an intense,versatile style of play. Equally effective at all frontcourt positions, Melton came into the IBL and made a name for himself immediately with 27ppg 13rpg in Akron Energy. After sliding over to Holland, Dominick gained momentum every year and further improved his game to the point that he was a 2007 IBL All Star .

Finally Dominick Melton was able to latch on with a solid franchise in Germany called TuS Bramsche. He has had several good games already,highlighted by a 22point,20rebound outburst recently.

Expect big things from the Holland Blast this season as they return their nucleus and have also made some quality acquisitions.

I.B.L. Must See Game: The Holland Blast vs The Hidden Gems All Stars!!! -by Lucius Jones

Hidden Gems is a semi-pro team that plays competitive,high pressure basketball against different professional teams and colleges. The Hidden Gems All Stars will be composed of players who are in the market for professional basketball employment. Most have achieved high levels of success in their collegiate careers and also have professional experience at varied levels of play. Other IBL teams and representatives of different organizations are encouraged to be in attendance in order to evaluate the prospective talent.

To access information for attending this spectacular game, go to www.hollandblast.com and go to the schedule which has all the traveling information. Or visit either www.iblhoopsonline.com and go to Holland Blast for specific information on the team or www.leaguelineup.com/hiddengems for more information on the Hidden Gems organization as a whole. Roster Information for The Hidden Gems All Stars:

Tyler Ousley (6'9''-F/C) - All American at Otterbien with bigtime pro potential. Can play any frontcourt position at his height.

Sean Ballard (6'6' F) - Frontcourt versatility. Fully capable of defending 2/3/4 and strong at 3/4 on offense. High level defense and intensity.Henry Brown (5'8' PG) - Cat-quick, strong PG who finsihes well in traffic. 3ball is strong,as is defensive pressure. Penetration is almost at will.

*****************************************************ITALY

Last market news -by Gianni PascucciVirtus La Fortezza Bologna agreed to loan Fabio Di Bella (187-G-78) to Armani Jeans Milano, replacing him with the addition of Dimitri Lauwers (187-G-79), from Legea Scafati. After welcoming Pietro Aradori (192-G-88), from Milano, Lottomatica Roma agreed to loan Simone Bagnoli (206-F/C-81) to Edimes Pavia (Lega 2) till the end of the current season. In Lega 2, Prima Veroli announced the signing of Guido Meini (188-G-79), from Edimes Pavia. Banco di Sardegna Sassari and Massimo Guerra (192-G-69) agreed to part ways. Emanuele Rossi (208-C-82) moved from Fastweb Casale Monferrato to Treviglio (Serie B1). Cristiano Grappasonni (205-F/C-72) Left Pepsi Caserta and should have joined Edimes Pavia, but this team wasn' t able to register him in time before the transfers deadline, in consequence he should ink soon with a Serie B1 team.

Great Round 8 -by Asia-Basket LebanonIn the 8th round of the Lebanese league , 3 big games were awaiting the Basketball Fans, the first big game joined Feytroun to Blue Stars , the game saw a dominance from Feytroun and they managed to have a 13 point lead during the game , the experience of Blue Stars made them come back to the game and to win in the end of the score of 77-76.

In another game Riyadi maintained its unbeaten record and cruised to an easy 8th consecutive win for this season against Anibal on the score of 95-61.

In the second big game Champville was hosting Antranik , the two teams met in the first round and Champville had a great game by wining it 86-84 after trailing most of the time Antranik .In this game the revenge was the title Antranik started the game focused to score the second win of the season and they imposed their game and led as much as 15 points in the game , in the 4th quarter Champville made the come back and managed to take the lead by 4 points but the persistence of the guest team secured them the game on the score of 77-73.

In the last big game of this round the big battle announced of this year between Sagesse and Moutahed had its second round. This game saw the return of Brian Feghali to action in the Lebanese League after 1 season off , the game was a very tense and full of excitement and intensity throughout the 40 minutes , the lead was exchanged so many times between the two teams , in the end Darren Kelly and Brian managed to seal the game with a very important win 73-70 that gave them the second place in the standing .

Feytroun - Blue Stars: 76-77

Best Scorers:

Feytroun: Aaaron Haynes (20pts)

Blue Stars: Jihad Murr (18pts)

Moutahed - Sagesse: 73-70

Best Scorers:

Moutahed : Darren Kelly (26pts)

Sagesse: Kevin Johnson (22pts)

Champville -Antranik: 77-73

Best Scorers:

Champville: Jarred Merrill (30pts)

Antranik: Nadim Souaid (25pts)

Riyadi - Anibal : 95-61

Best Scorers:

Riyadi: Damon King (22pts)

Anibal: Ronald Alexander (29pts)

*****************************************************MEXICO

LNBP Finals: Advantage Halcones? -by Justin BrinkMexicali and Xalapa, the two best that Mexican hoops has to offer. Can the Soles make history or will the Halcones put a feather in their cap, in what has been one of their most successful regular season campaigns, with a 2007 LNBP Championship? Thanks to the LNBP we're gonna help you break it down. Mexicali comes in at 33-14 and a recent Northern Conference sweep of Santos last round. Xalapa has lead the league overall all season long, they are 41-7 and have faced little resistance in the post season. Mexicali had the upper hand this season's series taking three games out of five from Xalapa in regular season match ups. However, regular season match ups and records mean little now as the history will have little to do with how the near LNBP future will unfold. Click here for more LNBP Finals break down.

*****************************************************NBA

LA Clippers waive Sam Cassell -by Eurobasket NewsThe Los Angeles Clippers waived veteran guard Sam Cassell (6'3''-G-69, college: Florida St.) yesterday enabling him to join a different team. The 39-year-old point guard averages 12.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.8 boards per game this season but was haunted by numerous injuries throughout it. Sam Cassell missed the last for games for the Clippers with a sprained wrist and more than 40 games in the last two seasons in Los Angeles. The Boston Celtics are an obvious and most likely next haven for Sam Cassell. The Celtics have been reportedly interested in his services throughout the season. Sam Cassell previously denied any contacts with Boston franchise but the recent actions are aiming at his possible joining the team. The veteran guard was not happy with the results of the Clippers in the season and was eager to finish his career on a high note. If he inks with the Celtics he will duet with his former teammate Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) as they played for the Minnesota T-Wolves since 2003 through 2005. Meanwhile the action continued yesterday with the New Jersey Nets overwhelming the Milwaukee Bucks 120:106 at home court. Devin Harris (6'3''-G-83, college: Wisconsin) finally debuted for the Nets after being acquired from the Mavericks in a Jason Kidd (6'4''-G-73, college: California) deal. And the debut was a superb one. A 25-year-old point guard came off the bench to topscore for the Nets with 21 points in nearly 21 minutes. He accompanied the haul with 5 assists, a block and a steal in the 26th win for New Jersey in the season. Bostjan Nachbar (6'10''-G/F-80, agency: Interperformances) was also impressive scoring all his 13 points in the fourth frame to ensure the winning outcome for the hosts. Michael Redd (6'6''-G-79, college: Ohio St.) answered with 33 points, while Andrew Bogut (7'0''-F/C-84, college: Utah) finished with 22 points and 15 boards for Milwaukee. At the same time Jason Kidd was not able to help his Dallas to edge the San Antonio Spurs in the Western favorites clash. The San Antonio bruised the Mavs 97:94 for the 7th straight win. They also snapped the Mavs' three-game winning run and cleared off them in the Southwest Division. Tim Duncan (6'10''-F-76, college: Wake Forest) was huge with 31 points and 15 boards in a win. He also sank two key free throws with 34 seconds left in regulation to give the Spurs a decisive 96:94 lead. Emanuel Ginobili (6'6''-G-77, agency: Interperformances) nailed 17 points, while Michael Finley (6'7''-G-73, college: Wisconsin) notched 16 for the winners. Dirk Nowitzki (6'11''-F-78) answered with 28 points for the Mavericks. Jason Kidd ended up netting 7 points and dishing out 10 assists for the night.

*****************************************************NCAA

UCLA stays on top of Pac-10 -by Eurobasket NewsUCLA swooped past Arizona State 70:49 yesterday to improve to 13-2 record atop of the Pac-10 conference. Centre Kevin Love (6'10''-C-88) came up with 18 points and 12 boards to pace the Bruins as they posted the 9th win in the last 10 encounters. The Sun Devils kept it close in the opening moments as the scoreline was tied at 11 with 13 minutes gone. But the Bruins quickly adjusted their outside shooting and it paid off as they built a 29:18 lead at the interval. UCLA never surrendered the lead after the break outmuscling the hosts under the rims with 34:20 dominance on boards. Darren Collison (6'0''-G-87) and Josh Shipp (6'5''-G/F-86) provided 17 points apiece for the winners. James Harden (6'5''-G-89) and Rihards Kuksiks (6'6''-F-88) answered with 11 point each in defeat. It was the 8th loss in the last 11 games for the Arizona State. UCLA stayed one win away from Pac-10 second-best Stanford. The Cardinal maintained the winning tempo with a hard-fought 82:79 success against Washington. It was an extra close game though Stanford were up throughout the whole contest. They got to an 11:3 run to open the encounter and held on in front for the reminder of the first half. But the Huskies kept the hosts at a striking distance. Justin Dentmon (5'11''-G) scored a jumper to cut the deficit to only 4 points with 13 seconds left in regulation. Mitch Johnson (6'1''-G) responded with a free throw but Ryan Appleby (6'2''-G-84) knocked down a trey to make it 79:81 with 7 seconds to go. Taj Finger (6'8''-F-86) converted one more free throw for the Cardinal and the Huskies did not have enough time to save the day. Brook Lopez (7'0''-F) paced the Cardinal with 21 points and 7 boards. Anthony Goods (6'3''-G) contributed 16 points for Stanford as they remained with chances of claiming the Conference title. It can become a reality when they travel to UCLA next week. Jon Brockman (6'7''-F-87) tallied 20 points and 14 boards for the Huskies as they slipped to 15-14 record.

*****************************************************PALESTINE

De la Salle Representative of Palestine In The Arab Clubs Championship 21 -by Karim SchahinDe la Salle represents Palestine for the second time in the Arab Clubs Championship (21), which will take place in Amman-Jordan from 23, April untill 6, May. The draw was held in Cairo. The result was:

PBA Philippine Cup Finals - Giants Force Game 7 -by Lorenzo GaholPBA Philippine Cup Finals - Giants Force Game 7Purefoods TJ Giants 89 - Sta. Lucia Realtors 81: The Giants played steadier in the closing minutes to hold off the Realtors and bring the series into a deciding Game 7. James Yap (190-F/G-82) exploded in the fourth period to lead Purefoods' assault, including two crucial three-pointers that staved off a minor run by Sta. Lucia. Yap finished with a total of 30 points, making up for lost time after he was suspended in Game 5 due to a flagrant foul. His return boosted his teammates' morale in Game 6 as they played tougher defense to spoil the Realtors' bid to finish the series. J. Bagulaya (02/27/08)

PBA Philippine Cup Finals - Realtors Regain AdvantagePurefoods TJ Giants 88 - Sta. Lucia Realtors 76: The Realtors regained the upper hand in Game 5 of their best-of-seven showdown against the Giants at the Araneta Coliseum. The game was close in the first half until Sta. Lucia's defense shut down their opponents and limited them to just 11 points in the third quarter. Purefoods was without key player James Yap, who was serving a suspension for a foul on Joseph Yeo in Game 3. Yap and Yeo will return to the hardcourt for their respective teams in Game 6. Kelly Williams led the Realtors with 20 points and 16 rebounds while Kerby Raymundo shouldered the scoring chores for Purefoods with 20 markers. J. Malig (02/24/08)

*****************************************************PUERTO RICO

BSN News and Results. -by Alessandro FontanaCarmelo Lee will not be in Puerto Rico before the end of march. 'Our Boricua' will stay in South Korea and play for Daegu becuase He prolonged his contract with the team till 23rd March. After that period He will come back in Puerto Rico to play with his team Conquistadores de Guaynabo.Tonight Conquistadores de Guaynabo will play against Cariduros de Fajardo. Omar Quintero, one of the new players of Fajardo can not play.Peter John Ramos will play also this BSN 2008 with his past team Criollos de Caguas. The center should play already tonight with his team against Guayama.Yesterday Santurce won against Arecibo= 85-74. MVP of the game was Larry Ayuso (18pts).BOX SCORE:Santurce= Ayuso 18, Ray Dalmau 12 (6rebs+6assts), Falcon 10, Rivas 10, Traylor 10, O. Santiago 8, R. Dalmau 4, Narvaez 4, E. Santiago 3, Watson 3, Melendez 2, Berdiel 0Arecibo= White 23, Figueroa 19 (16 rebs), Hatton 14, R. Cruz 8, Rivera 5, Rosario 3, Rosa 2, Cortes 0, Ricardo 0, Rivera 0 .A. Fontana

*****************************************************ROMANIA

News from Miodrag Perisic -by Bogdan BocanialaHi Misa, how are you? How is it going for you?I'm very well, thanks. I've been in Macedonia for nearly 2 months now, which is enough time to get accommodated with the new country, team and league. So, things are going just fine.

How did you find the team?I was fairly satisfied with the team that I found when I arrived here. We've brought 4 more players (3 foreigner's and 1 Macedonian) so I think we have a pretty strong team now, capable of achieving good results this season.

Do you have an objective for this year (having in mind that you took the team only from the second part of the championship)?I think that the team has the opportunity to play final of championship and also national Cup. We work hard to get there and, why not, to win it…

I've saw that you won last game and now you are on third position in championship?We've had a really good start, we won for the first time in the club's history in front of K.K. Rabotnicki (multiple champion's of Macedonian league) in Skopje. This victory brought us on third position and in the same time gave us the ambition to go further.

Is Basketball sport number one in Macedonia?Football is the most popular sport, and after that came basketball and handball. Macedonia was part of former Yugoslavia so it's also part of Yugoslav's basketball school/family. Here is a tradition of watching basketball, just like anywhere in the former Yugoslavians country.

Tell us a few things that you miss from Cluj?I'm a professional so I don't have the privilege of missing things, It's something you have to be aware when you choose this job. Bitola is a new chapter in my life. I spent more than 3 years in Cluj-Napoca, so, naturally, I made a loot's of friends. Along with my girlfriend, who is also Romanian, I missed them most.

Which is biggest difference between U- Mobitelco team and Swisslion Pelister?They are both top clubs in their's countries, they share the same ambition and both have great supporters.Every place it's a different experience, I always try to focus on positive things that have happened to me. This is something that keeps me going on, along with my family and friends. It is a famous Serbian song which says that, as we get older, good things push away bad things that have happened to us. Hopefully, when I get old there will be much more good things to look back at.

Is Macedonian championship stronger then Romanian? Is it different?Macedonian league has only 8 teams whereas there are 14 in Romanian. Romania is a bigger country, its clubs have bigger budgets which consequently reflects on the championship. On the other hand, 7 out of 8 Macedonian clubs are very close in terms of quality, something that is not the case in Romania. There can be only 4 foreign players in Macedonian clubs and 5 in Romanian so there are more opportunities for native players here. Best Macedonian clubs could participate well in Romanian league, just like the best Romanian clubs could play here in Macedonia. So, I'd say they are equally strong.

Name one thing that you will always take with you?I take all the times with me a gold neck less, a gift from my parents for my 18th birthday.

I hope that you will achieve your goals with Swisslion Pelister and everything best to you.I hope that basketball in Romania will continue its expansion and soon you guys have your teams in some of the strongest European competition, on club or national team level. I would also like to say 'hi' to all my friends and basketball fans in Romania, thank you for everything.

'Opponent is serious. At this time Triumph Lyubertsy is on 4th place on Superleague and their aim is to be the TOP 3 teams in Russia. It will be very hard game for us, plus we are not hosting this game. Some of our key players are injured and it will be big loss for us. Probably Andrei Babitchev (209-F/C-85) and Dimitrios Marmarinos (205-C-76, college: Nevada) won't be playing because physician didn't say anything so far. There is big question mark on Thomas Gardner (195-G-85 college: Missouri) as well who got injured on practice. Other players are ready for this match. For example Sergey Karaulov (215-C-82) and Kresimir Loncar (210-F-83) started practices week ago and nobody know how they will perform. Anyways, we will try out best to win this match. We need points to ensure our name on Play-Off list.'

Deon is a very strong and explosive guard exceptional quickness and great slasher and finishes well around the basket. He is an excellent pull up jump shooter 15 ft from the basket and a very strong defender.

He can shoot the 3 pt.shot with great range. He's a triple double man; An excellent rebounder for his size and an excellent passer.

Awards/Achievements:McDonald's All-American Honorable Mention 96HS Los Angeles Times All-City Team 96HS El Camino Real League MVP 96HS CIF 4-A State Championship 95,96HS 1st Team All CIF 94,95,961st Team All Big Sky 98, 002nd Team All Big Sky 99Big Sky Best Play Maker 98,992002 MVP winter league 2002 Drew league champions2001 Drew leagues runner upsAsia-Basket.com All-Syrian League 1st Team -05Asia-Basket.com Syrian league Guard of the year -05Asia-Basket.com Syrian league All-Import Players 1st Team -05Asia-Basket.com All-Lebanese League Guard of the Year -06Asia-Basket.com All-Lebanese League 1st Team -06Asia-Basket.com Lebanese League All-Imports Team -06

*****************************************************SERBIA

First win of Partizan Igokea in TOP 16 and reactions after the game ! -by Dragan JankovskiPartizan Igokea grabbed the first win in Euroleague TOP 16 beating Turkish Efes Pilsen 78-65 at the front of almost 7.000 people in Belgrade's hall Pionir. Efes wasn't capable to resist Partizan mostly because their 4 key players Drew Nicholas, Loren Woods, Andre Hutson and Rashad Wright refused to flight to Serbia because of security concerns despite assurances of safety from host city and the club. Like usually, atmosphere in Pionir was amazing and without any incident. More over the Turkish team, especially David Blatt , Scoonie Penn (178-G-77, college: Ohio St.), Kenny Gregory (197-G/F-78, college: Kansas) and Ermal Kurtoglu (207-C-80, agency: Beo Basket), got a huge ovation when they show up on the floor. Partizan dominated in the paint in the first half having 11 rebounds more than Efes which outcomed with plus 11 on the half time. At the beginning of the last quarter Partizan extended lead to 62-47 what was enough for the comfortable win. Without above mentioned players Efes doesn't have a power to be an equal rival. Center Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) was unstoppable in the paint collecting 20 points and 6 rebounds having very good 12-10 for 2FG. USA PG Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.) followed him with 14 points and 4 assists. On the other side Kenny Gregory added 19 points and 5 rebounds while Ermal Kurtoglu had 13 points and 4 rebounds.

Press conference after the game was very interesting as Partizan's head coach Dusko Vujosevic thanked a lot to the fans, Efes Pilsen, Euroleague and the Turkish ambassador in Belgrade. He also stated that Belgrade was always friendly host to everobody and no one who comes with sports motive doesn't have anything to worry about. Vujosevic finished the conference with words: 'This game was a test and we showed we are more than capable to organize big events in this situation. We showed it is possible and no one who doesn't want to come in Belgrade because of security reasons is in deep delusion'.

Highly respected coach David Blatt after the game said: 'Partizan was better tonight and deserved to win. I want to congratulate Partizan's fans because of fantastic hospitality. It doesn't surprise me because I know that basketball is in heart of Serbian people. Players who showed up today hadn't any doubt to travel or not. My opinion about the players who didn't want to travel because of the security reasons is that it is totally unacceptable. Sport should be a bridge between chaos and normality and here wasn't any kind of chaos. Second, these guys eat together, work very hard and bleed together. They leaved the other guys alone on the battle field tonight.'

Sundsvall signs yet another former NBA player -by Erik SundbergSundsvall Dragons has once again taken advantage of their connections with the NBA club Chicago Bulls. Early in January the northern Swedes were able to sign six time NBA champion Scottie PippenAnd the Dragons have now signed another former American NBA player. This time the 30 years old guard Arthur James Guyton (187-G-78, college: Indiana), for the remaining of the season. for one spectacular game.

A.J. Guyton was drafted by the Bulls in 2000. He remained in the club for two season and was then traded to Golden State Warriors. Guyton has also played with Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons.Besides that he have played with Fortitudo Bologna i Euroleague.

However, it's not known in what shape Guyton currently is in. He's been away from the game sine April 2007 because of an eye surgery he had to go through with. Guyton only started playing again in January of this year when he came to Olimpia GE Larissa in the Greek league. But after just a month in the club he now leaves to play in Sweden.His debut for Sundsvall Dragons is planned for the 29th of February when 08 Stockholm HR comes to visit Sundsvall Sporthall.

MIDLAND , TX - los Gallos de pellae are on the road this weekend for a two game set with the Midland Heat and the Heat are looking to avenge a couple of big losses in El Paso,Tx earlier this year. Also in action in west texas are the San Angelo Chaparrals who will be hosting a match up with the West Texas Storm who are looking to fight here way into a playoff spot.Down South - The Lake Jackson Lakers will be hosting 2009 entry Barnone (Killeen,Tx) in a tough TPBL match up. Lake Jackson coming off a Big win last week against the Chaparrals 131-111.

Boyd Anderson wins in rout, reaches final -by David EdoleBY FABIAN LYON Merely advancing to the Class 6A state Championship game wasn't good enough for the Boyd Anderson boys' basketball team Thursday night.

After the Cobras endured criticism for falling short of the big show the past four seasons, BA thought it only fitting to kick the door down this time around.

Buoyed by 20 points and 12 rebounds from senior 6-7 center Ivan Aska, Boyd Anderson ran out to a 35-22 halftime lead and cruised to a 78-45 victory against Orlando Evans in the Florida High School Athletic Association's semifinals at the Lakeland Center.

''We wanted to take their pride, take their momentum any hope they had about winning,'' said junior guard Martavious Irving. ``We want to show everybody why we are the No. 1 team in the state. We came out here and proved it with a big win like this but it doesn't matter unless we win the championship game.''

Boyd Anderson (30-1, ranked No. 20 in the National Prep Basketball Poll) will attempt to win its second state title game and first since 1994 against Miami Norland on Saturday night.

It will be the first playoff meeting between the teams since 2005 when Norland beat Boyd Anderson 52-50 in the regional semifinals.

''They are going to play physical, and we are going to play physical,'' Irving said. ``In the back of our minds, we are thinking about a few years back when they beat us. Most of those players are in college now but are depending on us to win it for them.''

Frank Gaines had 11 points, Irving had 12 points and five assists, and Tyrone Davis spear-headed the Cobras fast break with six points and seven assists.

Cedric Flood led a solid bench effort for the Cobras with 18 points.

Boyd Anderson, which has won 26 consecutive games, became the fourth Broward County team to advance to the state title this weekend -- joining Pine Crest (3A), Sagemont (2A) and four-time state champion Dillard (5A).

Count Evans coach Tyrhon Crawford among those who came away impressed with the Cobras' ability to score in bunches.

Evans enjoyed a brief 4-2 lead only to see Boyd Anderson take the lead for good with a 17-2 blitz. It started with Irving knocking down a three-pointer in front of the Trojans' bench, Bryan Bynes converting a layin of a long pass from Tyrone Davis and Frank Gaines picking up a loose ball at midcourt and going in for a layup. By time the first quarter buzzer sounded, Boyd Anderson had converted on 7 of 10 shots and led 21-8.

''We had three different scouting reports on them and four tapes on them,'' Crawford said. ``We broke them down. We knew they shoot a lot of threes. We knew 42 [Aska] was big inside. We prepped the guys the best we could.''

All to no avail.

The closest Evans would come again was 37-27 when Kedric Taylor, who led all Trojans scorers with 20 points, converted a layin with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

Boyd Anderson promptly answered with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach. Bynes knocked down a straight-away three-pointer, Aska threw down a two-handed dunk off a look-away pass from Davis and Gaines converted a three-point play by banking in a shot while getting fouled by Kevin Harden.

Atenas and Bigua took the lead 2-1 -by Hector LopezAtenas and Bigua toook a 2-1 lead over Hebraica and Defensor Sporting in the best-of-five semifinal games of the Uruguayan League, and the next round will be played on Saturday night. All the games are played on a neutral court. Richard Matienzo (202-F/C-69, college: Miami Dade CC) scored four free throws in the last minute to put Atenas ahead for the first time and to win the game 85-83. Hebraica was winning for 9 points with eight minutes to play. Atenas tied the game with one free throw by Luis Silveira (81-81) with one minute to play. Hebraica scored only two free throws in the last three minutes of the game. The main scorer for Atenas was Wendell Gibson (201-F/C-83, college: Hofstra) with 22 points and 9 rebounds. and Hakeem Rollins (202-C/F-83, agency: CAA Sports, college: Washington) netted 16. Kevin Young netted the decisive two points, with 25 second to play, and Bigua defeated Defensor Sporting 85-82. Bigua, coming from behind, took the lead in the second quarter with a 15-0 rally. In the last play of the game Juan Zaballa tried a three point shot for Defensor, but it ffailed and the team claimed for a oersonal foul, not given by the referees. Young scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Mark Alan Bortz (208-F-82, college: Buffalo) added 17 and 10 rebounds, to be both the MVP of the game. For Defensor Sporting Federico Alvarez (194-F-88) netted 20, David Jackson (196-G-82, college: Penn St.) 14 points, all during the first half, and Nathan Mielke (210-F-81, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Guaiqueries de Margarita hit first on defending its crown in the opening of the 2008 Professional basketball league of Venezuela. The hero of tonight game was 9 years experienced Antonio Torcatt (182-G-76) whom made six points from the three point line during the last quarter of the game; Torcatt finished with 12 points for the tribe. Panteras of Miranda had a great night as well but the luck was not with them at this time.

The last score of tonight game was, Guaiqueries 77 , Panteras of Miranda71

Tachira defeat Malvin -by Yelitza La TorreDeportivo Tachira beat Malvin in the opening of the C group of the South American basketball league. Johnell Smith (186-G-80, college: New Orleans) was the best man in the court for Deportivo Tachira with 21 points. Fernando Martinez made 17 points for Malvin. Two offensive rebounds from the Venezuelan team when the game was about to finish allowed them to beat Malvin 66 - 61

Deportivo Tachira is one of those two new organizations of the improved 2008 Professional Basketball League of Venezuela.

Snell, Jackson, Taylor and Harrower advance to Final Four with their teams -by Eurobasket NewsBelinda Snell (182-F-81, agency: LBM Management) together with Bourges Basket advanced to the Final Four and joined two Russian squads there. A 72:74 win in Istanbul allowed them to sweep the series over Fenerbahce. Five players scored more than 10 points for the winners. Belinda Snell led all of them with 20 points, while Miyem added 12. Cappie Pondexter shone for the Turkish side with 31 points. After 85:69 in France Bourges Basket realized that the road to Istanbul will be tough. Petrovic gave the guests 0-3 lead after the shot from the arc. Ndongue with a tap-in and then a free trow kept french advantage to 2:8. It seemed that the visitors would not have problems in the game, but they already had them in the end of the first period. Vardarli's three reduced the gap to 16:19. Sutton-Brown with a jump-shot brought the hosts the first lead at 25:24. In a back-to-back period Bourges Basket was still in front. Sutton-Brown sent both squads to the lockers making 31:34 margin. A lay-up by Ndongue opened another battle for the teams in the third quarter. Fenerbahce could not tie the game but stayed 3-4 points behind. Belinda Snell made it 41:44 and then her three-pointer reached 43:48. Lepron brought her team 45:52 lead before the final quarter. The last period was the game between Bourges Basket and Cappie Pondexter who took the leading skills of her team. She made first eight points of Fenerbahce that still trailed 53:62. Sutton-Brown reduced to 60:65 with 3.35 to play in the game. Cappie Pondexter scores another 9 points in a row for 69:70. She was the last to pour in the game but her free throw only gave 72:74 as Dumerc's four free throws reached the aim. UMMC Ekaterinburg and 7000 spectators were satisfied an hour ago after the second game of the Quarterfinals of Euroleague. UMMC beat one of the favorites CSKA 94:90 and advanced to the Final Four. Agnieszka Bibrzycka paced the winners with 22 points. Sandrine Gruda nailed 17, while Yelena Leuchanka collected 14 points and 12 rebounds. Becky Hammon top-scored for the guests with 24 points. Lawson-Wade opened the game with a tap-in as CSKA took the first lead in the quarter. In a back-to back period the hosts enjoyed 24:19 advantage after 5-0 run in the last minute. Ekaterinburg found its game in the middle of the second as they led by as many as 12 points. Jones made it 45:33, but then CSKA reduced to 45:39 at the half time.Yelena Leuchanka brought the hosts the biggest lead at 62:48 advantage. The game could not go on the same stream and the visitors replied with 13-0 spurt. At first they finished the third with 65:61 and then tied the game at 68 for both squads. Caroline Aubert showed her quality again by nailing a three-ball before Stepanova replied with a basket to leave the game knotted at 73:73. Again Caroline Aubert shots from the arc for 76:73. Later in the period Becky Hammon answered with a three for 87:85. Her another shot from a far distance saw 93:90 with 11 seconds remaining, but Kristi Harrower (166-G-75)'s free throw sealed the win for UMMC. Penny Taylor (185-F-81) netted 11 points, while Kristi Harrower scored 4. Spartak Moscow Region proves the ambitions to defend the title in Euroleague this season. In the second game of the Quarterfinals the defending champions smashed Dynamo 58:98. Tatiana Shchegoleva led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and Diana Taurasi followed her with 16 points each. Nuria Martinez ended up with 14 points in the losing effort. Dynamo had to play without the top-scorer Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. The Latvian superstar missed both contests because of a shoulder injury. Spartak Moscow Region easily won the opening quarter 14:25 to take a control of the game. Dynamo reduced to 28:29 midway through the second quarter but then Spartak created a 10-2 run. Bird sent the teams to the lockers with 38:50. A jump-shot from Lauren Jackson opened the second half and another spurt of the guests. Spartak Moscow Region pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Dynamo 23:10. Again Bird closed the quarter at 48:73 and at that time nobody believed in Dynamo. In the last quarter the hosts tried not to get 100 points and finished the game with 58:98 loss. Vieru scored last two free throws for the winners. Spartak Moscow Region advances to the Final Four with 2-0 over Dynamo. After CSKA lost the encounter to UMMC, Spartak stays the favorite of the Euroleague.

In the only pair that will need a third battle Gambrinus Brno beat Ros Casares 65:55 and tied the series at 1-1. A second and a third quarters were productive for the hosts in the game. Hamchetou Maiga (185-G/F-78, college: ODU) led the winners with 15 points. Zuzana Zirkova (175-F/G-80) and Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) supported her with 10 points apiece. Katie Douglas (183-G/F-79, college: Purdue) ended up with 22 points in the losing effort.Ros Casares came to Czech Republic to finish the encounter and opened the game with 12:15. The Spanish had their moments early on taking 5 points in the beginning of the second quarter. Eva Viteckova capped the spurt with a jump shot to make it 20:17 midway through the second quarter for the hosts. her lay-up later in the period saw 29:21 advantage of the home side. Vecerova closed the first half at 33:25 as the hosts won the second quarter 21:10. A 19:11 in the beginning of the second half gave Gambrinus the power that padded the advantage and had a 52:36 stranglehold by the end of the third quarter. Hamchetou Maiga opened up the final quarter with a lay-up, the lead ballooned to 54:36. Ros Casares replied with 2-12 and reduced the gap to 56:48. Katie Douglas cut the margin to 59:55 with less than 3 minutes to play. Gambrinus Brno did not hesitate and after 6-0 run finished the game having 65:55 victory. Machova's lay-up was the last in the game to give her team and the spectators a great success. Ros Casares will meet Gambrinus Brno in the decisive third game on March 5th.

BC Moscow won the second game of the Russian battle outscoring Chevakata 68:58. A 21:9 in the opening quarter was a good start for the hosts. Ekaterina Savelyeva (184-F-86) led all the winners with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Monique Currie (183-G/F-83, agency: Ronsport, college: Duke) collected 15 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, while Plenette Pierson (188-F/C-81, college: Texas Tech) nailed 14. Elena Volkova (175-G-83) ended up with 18 points for the visitors. After 70:68 in Vologda the game was almost restarted again. BC Moscow however proved the power to open the game with 7-0 run. Elena Danilochkina (184-G-86) closed the first quarter for 21:9 hosts' advantage. The tempo went down later in the game as both teams scored 21 points in the next quarter. Moscow team held the 32:19 deficit when two squads went to the lockers. Bokareva and Moore followed with two free throws each and Hasper added a jump shot to cap the 9-0 spurt in the second. The guests stayed closer at 37:35 with less than three minutes to go in the third period. Again it was Elena Danilochkina who closed the third quarter at 42:37. Sapova brought the most interesting moment in the beginning of the last quarter when she reduced the contest to 42:40, but BC Moscow had their tasks. With the help of Ekaterina Savelyeva and Monique Currie the home side increased the lead in the last quarter. Monique Currie set up the final score, 68:58 that gave BC Moscow total 138:126 victory.

The end of the Quarter-Finals -by Eurobasket NewsGalatasaray edged Electra Ramat-Hasharon from Israel to reach the semifinals of the EuroCup Women. After a road 69:74 win Turkish team won once more 70:53 to prove their ambitions. Esra Sencebe led the winners with 20 points. Petra Ujhelyi collected 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Sophia Young (186-F-83, college: Baylor) netted 14. Daliborka Vilipic (196-C-75) finished the night with 15 points for the guests. The game was opened in an offensive style due to the last game result. Electra Ramat-Hasharon desired to tie the margin at once but trailed 3 points after the opening quarter. Sophia Young with a jump-shot made it 21:18 for the Turkish team. The visitors struggled against the vaunted defense of Galatasaray early on and trailed 37:22. Elektra responded by going on an 8-0 run that bridged the end of the second quarter and the start of the third. Daliborka Vilipic made the score 41:35 and hoped for staying closer with her team. Galatasaray hit their opponents with an 18-1 run to seal another victory of the campaign. Electra Ramat-Hasharon could score 8 last points of the game for 70:53 loss. Galatasaray wins 144:122 and advances to the semis.

BC Moscow won the second game of the Russian battle outscoring Chevakata 68:58. A 21:9 in the opening quarter was a good start for the hosts. Ekaterina Savelyeva (184-F-86) led all the winners with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Monique Currie (183-G/F-83, agency: Ronsport, college: Duke) collected 15 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, while Plenette Pierson nailed 14. Elena Volkova ended up with 18 points for the visitors. After 70:68 in Vologda the game was almost restarted again. BC Moscow however proved the power to open the game with 7-0 run. Elena Danilochkina closed the first quarter for 21:9 hosts' advantage. The tempo went down later in the game as both teams scored 21 points in the next quarter. Moscow team held the 32:19 deficit when two squads went to the lockers. Bokareva and Moore followed with two free throws each and Hasper added a jump shot to cap the 9-0 spurt in the second. The guests stayed closer at 37:35 with less than three minutes to go in the third period. Again it was Elena Danilochkina who closed the third quarter at 42:37. Sapova brought the most interesting moment in the beginning of the last quarter when she reduced the contest to 42:40, but BC Moscow had their tasks. With the help of Ekaterina Savelyeva and Monique Currie (183-G/F-83, agency: Ronsport, college: Duke) the home side increased the lead in the last quarter. Monique Currie (183-G/F-83, agency: Ronsport, college: Duke) set up the final score, 68:58 that gave BC Moscow total 138:126 victory.

Italian Schio completed their task of qualifying to the semifinal of EuroCup cruising past Croatian Gospic in the quarterfinal. Schio were victorious in the first game of the teams back in Croatia 68:63 and were hopeful before the return leg at home. Gospic needed a miracle to surpass their opponents but it never came as Schio dominated the home encounter. Deanne Butler and Laura Macchi teamed up for 10 points in a 16:2 run from the hosts to open the game. Katarina Maloca scored 4 straight points for Gospic to cut the deficit but Deanne Butler nailed a three-pointer to make it 21:8 for the hosts. Sandra Popovic-Mandir (177-G-77) and Katarina Maloca closed the margin to 9 points however the home team capped the frame with a 26:14 advantage. Sandra Popovic-Mandir scored a jump shot at the start of the second term and later Cori Enghusen added another jumper to finalize a scoring tally for Gospic in the second term. Schio kept the Croatian team scoreless for more than 6 minutes in the second frame and stretched the lead to 26 points at halftime 44:18. Sandra Popovic-Mandir and Katarina Maloca adjusted offense for Gospic in the third stanza but it was too late to hope for any kind of positive result. Sandra Popovic-Mandir accounted for 9 points for Gospic and the visitors managed to outscore Schio 20:18 in the quarter. But with the starting five players back on court Schio easily regained the initiative and Bernadette Ngoyisa scored 4 points, while Laura Macchi added two more as Schio restored a 27-point buffer early in the fourth term. The hosts then coasted to an impressive overall win. Bernadette Ngoyisa and Laura Macchi scored 16 points apiece to pace Schio. Bethany Donaphin contributed 12 points in a winning case. Sandra Popovic-Mandir answered with 24 points for Gospic. Katarina Maloca dropped 10 points in defeat.

Elitzur Ramla survived in Italy against Levoni Taranto but went down 84:62 at Taranto. It was however good enough to secure a five-point win on aggregate. Rebekkah Brunson (191-F/C-81, agency: LBM Management, college: Georgetown) had a game-high 32 points and 14 rebounds for the home side. Shay Doron (175-G-85, college: Maryland) produced 23 points for Israeli team.

UMMC Ekaterinburg and 7000 spectators were satisfied an hour ago after the second game of the Quarterfinals of Euroleague. UMMC beat one of the favorites CSKA 94:90 and advanced to the Final Four. Agnieszka Bibrzycka (184-F/G-82, college: Abil.Christian) paced the winners with 22 points. Sandrine Gruda (192-F/C-87) nailed 17, while Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) collected 14 points and 12 rebounds. Becky Hammon (168-G-77, college: Colorado St.) top-scored for the guests with 24 points. Lawson-Wade opened the game with a tap-in as CSKA took the first lead in the quarter. In a back-to back period the hosts enjoyed 24:19 advantage after 5-0 run in the last minute. Ekaterinburg found its game in the middle of the second as they led by as many as 12 points. Jones made it 45:33, but then CSKA reduced to 45:39 at the half time.Yelena Leuchanka brought the hosts the biggest lead at 62:48 advantage. The game could not go on the same stream and the visitors replied with 13-0 spurt. At first they finished the third with 65:61 and then tied the game at 68 for both squads. Aubert showed her quality again by nailing a three-ball before Stepanova replied with a basket to leave the game knotted at 73:73. Again Aubert shots from the arc for 76:73. Later in the period Becky Hammon answered with a three for 87:85. Her another shot from a far distance saw 93:90 with 11 seconds remaining, but Harrower's free throw sealed the win for UMMC.

In the only pair that will need a third battle Gambrinus Brno beat Ros Casares 65:55 and tied the series at 1-1. A second and a third quarters were productive for the hosts in the game. Hamchetou Maiga (185-G/F-78, college: ODU) led the winners with 15 points. Zuzana Zirkova (175-F/G-80) and Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) supported her with 10 points apiece. Katie Douglas (183-G/F-79, college: Purdue) ended up with 22 points in the losing effort.Ros Casares came to Czech Republic to finish the encounter and opened the game with 12:15. The Spanish had their moments early on taking 5 points in the beginning of the second quarter. Eva Viteckova capped the spurt with a jump shot to make it 20:17 midway through the second quarter for the hosts. her lay-up later in the period saw 29:21 advantage of the home side. Vecerova closed the first half at 33:25 as the hosts won the second quarter 21:10. A 19:11 in the beginning of the second half gave Gambrinus the power that padded the advantage and had a 52:36 stranglehold by the end of the third quarter. Hamchetou Maiga opened up the final quarter with a lay-up, the lead ballooned to 54:36. Ros Casares replied with 2-12 and reduced the gap to 56:48. Katie Douglas cut the margin to 59:55 with less than 3 minutes to play. Gambrinus Brno did not hesitate and after 6-0 run finished the game having 65:55 victory. Machova's lay-up was the last in the game to give her team and the spectators a great success. Ros Casares will meet Gambrinus Brno in the decisive third game on March 5th.

Spartak Moscow Region proves the ambitions to defend the title in Euroleague this season. In the second game of the Quarterfinals the defending champions smashed Dynamo 58:98. Tatiana Shchegoleva (193-F/C-82) led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and Diana Taurasi (182-G-82, college: Connecticut) followed her with 16 points each. Nuria Martinez (176-G-84) ended up with 14 points in the losing effort. Dynamo had to play without the top-scorer Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. The Latvian superstar missed both contests because of a shoulder injury. Spartak Moscow Region easily won the opening quarter 14:25 to take a control of the game. Dynamo reduced to 28:29 midway through the second quarter but then Spartak created a 10-2 run. Bird sent the teams to the lockers with 38:50. A jump-shot from Lauren Jackson opened the second half and another spurt of the guests. Spartak Moscow Region pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Dynamo 23:10. Again Bird closed the quarter at 48:73 and at that time nobody believed in Dynamo. In the last quarter the hosts tried not to get 100 points and finished the game with 58:98 loss. Vieru scored last two free throws for the winners.

Spartak Moscow Region advances to the Final Four with 2-0 over Dynamo. After CSKA lost the encounter to UMMC, Spartak stays the favorite of the Euroleague.

Quarter-Finals. Second Games -by Eurobasket NewsBourges Basket advanced to the Final Four and joined two Russian squads there. A 72:74 win in Istanbul allowed them to sweep the series over Fenerbahce. Five players scored more than 10 points for the winners. Belinda Snell (182-F-81, agency: LBM Management) led all of them with 20 points, while Miyem added 12. Cappie Pondexter (175-G-83, college: Rutgers) shone for the Turkish side with 31 points. After 85:69 in France Bourges Basket realized that the road to Istanbul will be tough. Petrovic gave the guests 0-3 lead after the shot from the arc. Ndongue with a tap-in and then a free trow kept french advantage to 2:8. It seemed that the visitors would not have problems in the game, but they already had them in the end of the first period. Vardarli's three reduced the gap to 16:19. Sutton-Brown with a jump-shot brought the hosts the first lead at 25:24. In a back-to-back period Bourges Basket was still in front. Sutton-Brown sent both squads to the lockers making 31:34 margin. A lay-up by Ndongue opened another battle for the teams in the third quarter. Fenerbahce could not tie the game but stayed 3-4 points behind. Belinda Snell made it 41:44 and then her three-pointer reached 43:48. Lepron brought her team 45:52 lead before the final quarter. The last period was the game between Bourges Basket and Cappie Pondexter who took the leading skills of her team. She made first eight points of Fenerbahce that still trailed 53:62. Sutton-Brown reduced to 60:65 with 3.35 to play in the game. Cappie Pondexter scores another 9 points in a row for 69:70. She was the last to pour in the game but her free throw only gave 72:74 as Dumerc's four free throws reached the aim.

UMMC Ekaterinburg and 7000 spectators were satisfied an hour ago after the second game of the Quarterfinals of Euroleague. UMMC beat one of the favorites CSKA 94:90 and advanced to the Final Four. Agnieszka Bibrzycka (184-F/G-82, college: Abil.Christian) paced the winners with 22 points. Sandrine Gruda nailed 17, while Yelena Leuchanka collected 14 points and 12 rebounds. Becky Hammon top-scored for the guests with 24 points. Lawson-Wade opened the game with a tap-in as CSKA took the first lead in the quarter. In a back-to back period the hosts enjoyed 24:19 advantage after 5-0 run in the last minute. Ekaterinburg found its game in the middle of the second as they led by as many as 12 points. Jones made it 45:33, but then CSKA reduced to 45:39 at the half time.Yelena Leuchanka brought the hosts the biggest lead at 62:48 advantage. The game could not go on the same stream and the visitors replied with 13-0 spurt. At first they finished the third with 65:61 and then tied the game at 68 for both squads. Caroline Aubert (168-G-80, college: Colorado) showed her quality again by nailing a three-ball before Stepanova replied with a basket to leave the game knotted at 73:73. Again Caroline Aubert shots from the arc for 76:73. Later in the period Becky Hammon answered with a three for 87:85. Her another shot from a far distance saw 93:90 with 11 seconds remaining, but Harrower's free throw sealed the win for UMMC.

Spartak Moscow Region proves the ambitions to defend the title in Euroleague this season. In the second game of the Quarterfinals the defending champions smashed Dynamo 58:98. Tatiana Shchegoleva (193-F/C-82) led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and Diana Taurasi followed her with 16 points each. Nuria Martinez ended up with 14 points in the losing effort. Dynamo had to play without the top-scorer Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. The Latvian superstar missed both contests because of a shoulder injury. Spartak Moscow Region easily won the opening quarter 14:25 to take a control of the game. Dynamo reduced to 28:29 midway through the second quarter but then Spartak created a 10-2 run. Bird sent the teams to the lockers with 38:50. A jump-shot from Lauren Jackson opened the second half and another spurt of the guests. Spartak Moscow Region pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Dynamo 23:10. Again Bird closed the quarter at 48:73 and at that time nobody believed in Dynamo. In the last quarter the hosts tried not to get 100 points and finished the game with 58:98 loss. Vieru scored last two free throws for the winners. Spartak Moscow Region advances to the Final Four with 2-0 over Dynamo. After CSKA lost the encounter to UMMC, Spartak stays the favorite of the Euroleague.

In the only pair that will need a third battle Gambrinus Brno beat Ros Casares 65:55 and tied the series at 1-1. A second and a third quarters were productive for the hosts in the game. Hamchetou Maiga (185-G/F-78, college: ODU) led the winners with 15 points. Zuzana Zirkova and Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) supported her with 10 points apiece. Katie Douglas (183-G/F-79, college: Purdue) ended up with 22 points in the losing effort.Ros Casares came to Czech Republic to finish the encounter and opened the game with 12:15. The Spanish had their moments early on taking 5 points in the beginning of the second quarter. Eva Viteckova capped the spurt with a jump shot to make it 20:17 midway through the second quarter for the hosts. her lay-up later in the period saw 29:21 advantage of the home side. Vecerova closed the first half at 33:25 as the hosts won the second quarter 21:10. A 19:11 in the beginning of the second half gave Gambrinus the power that padded the advantage and had a 52:36 stranglehold by the end of the third quarter. Hamchetou Maiga opened up the final quarter with a lay-up, the lead ballooned to 54:36. Ros Casares replied with 2-12 and reduced the gap to 56:48. Katie Douglas cut the margin to 59:55 with less than 3 minutes to play. Gambrinus Brno did not hesitate and after 6-0 run finished the game having 65:55 victory. Machova's lay-up was the last in the game to give her team and the spectators a great success. Ros Casares will meet Gambrinus Brno in the decisive third game on March 5th.

Bourges Basket advanced to the Final Four and joined two Russian squads there. A 72:74 win in Istanbul allowed them to sweep the series over Fenerbahce. Five players scored more than 10 points for the winners. Belinda Snell (182-F-81, agency: LBM Management) led all of them with 20 points, while Endene Miyem (188-F-88) added 12. Cappie Pondexter (175-G-83, college: Rutgers) shone for the Turkish side with 31 points. After 85:69 in France Bourges Basket realized that the road to Istanbul will be tough. Petrovic gave the guests 0-3 lead after the shot from the arc. Emmeline Ndongue (194-F-83) with a tap-in and then a free trow kept french advantage to 2:8. It seemed that the visitors would not have problems in the game, but they already had them in the end of the first period. Vardarli's three reduced the gap to 16:19. Sutton-Brown with a jump-shot brought the hosts the first lead at 25:24. In a back-to-back period Bourges Basket was still in front. Sutton-Brown sent both squads to the lockers making 31:34 margin. A lay-up by Emmeline Ndongue opened another battle for the teams in the third quarter. Fenerbahce could not tie the game but stayed 3-4 points behind. Belinda Snell made it 41:44 and then her three-pointer reached 43:48. Lepron brought her team 45:52 lead before the final quarter. The last period was the game between Bourges Basket and Cappie Pondexter who took the leading skills of her team. She made first eight points of Fenerbahce that still trailed 53:62. Sutton-Brown reduced to 60:65 with 3.35 to play in the game. Cappie Pondexter scores another 9 points in a row for 69:70. She was the last to pour in the game but her free throw only gave 72:74 as Dumerc's four free throws reached the aim.

Rutgers wins to give Vivian Stringer the 800th career victory -by Eurobasket NewsThe fourth-ranked Rutgers edged DePaul and their head coach Vivian Stringer reached an 800th career wins milestone. She guided three squads piling up victories with Cheyney, Iowa and now Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights were not about to spoil their head coach's record day and overwhelmed DePaul 60:46. Essence Carsons dropped 20 points to pace the winners. Epiphanny Prince (5'9''-G) came up with 15 points to lead Rutgers to a 23-4 overall record. The Scarlet Knights now tied the Connecticut Huskies atop of the Big East Conference. The teams were all knotted at 41 with less than 7 minutes remaining. But the hosts exploded with a 10:0 run and never looked back in the crunch time. Missy Mitidiero (5'4''-G) notched career-high 7 treys to accumulate game-high 21 points for the Blue Demons. Allie Quigley (5'11''-G-86) scored 8 points as DePaul suffered their 9th defeat in the season. The 8th-ranked Baylor University knocked down Colorado 76:62 to go 24-3 for the season. The Bears led 30:24 at the break but were not able to clear off after the main intermission. The Buffaloes trimmed the difference to only 3 points at 45:48 but it was as close as Colorado could get. Baylor nailed 8 free throws in a 10:0 rally that put them away for good. Angela Tisdale (5'7''-G-85) poured in game-high 30 points for Baylor. Rachel Allison (6'0''-F/C-87) launched 13 points, while Kelli Griffin (5'8''-G) added 11 for the winners. Jackie McFarland (6'3''-F-85) accounted for 20 points for the Buffaloes. Brittany Spears (6'1''-F) scored 16 points as Colorado slipped to 15-12 record.

Spartak Moscow Region proves the ambitions to defend the title in Euroleague this season. In the second game of the Quarterfinals the defending champions smashed Dynamo 58:98. Tatiana Shchegoleva (193-F/C-82) led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and Diana Taurasi (182-G-82, college: Connecticut) followed her with 16 points each. Nuria Martinez (176-G-84) ended up with 14 points in the losing effort. Dynamo had to play without the top-scorer Anete Jekabsone-Zogota. The Latvian superstar missed both contests because of a shoulder injury. Spartak Moscow Region easily won the opening quarter 14:25 to take a control of the game. Dynamo reduced to 28:29 midway through the second quarter but then Spartak created a 10-2 run. Bird sent the teams to the lockers with 38:50. A jump-shot from Lauren Jackson opened the second half and another spurt of the guests. Spartak Moscow Region pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Dynamo 23:10. Again Bird closed the quarter at 48:73 and at that time nobody believed in Dynamo. In the last quarter the hosts tried not to get 100 points and finished the game with 58:98 loss. Vieru scored last two free throws for the winners.

Spartak Moscow Region advances to the Final Four with 2-0 over Dynamo. After CSKA lost the encounter to UMMC, Spartak stays the favorite of the Euroleague.

BC Moscow won the second game of the Russian battle outscoring Chevakata 68:58. A 21:9 in the opening quarter was a good start for the hosts. Ekaterina Savelyeva (184-F-86) led all the winners with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Monique Currie (183-G/F-83, agency: Ronsport, college: Duke) collected 15 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, while Plenette Pierson (188-F/C-81, college: Texas Tech) nailed 14. Elena Volkova (175-G-83) ended up with 18 points for the visitors. After 70:68 in Vologda the game was almost restarted again. BC Moscow however proved the power to open the game with 7-0 run. Elena Danilochkina (184-G-86) closed the first quarter for 21:9 hosts' advantage. The tempo went down later in the game as both teams scored 21 points in the next quarter. Moscow team held the 32:19 deficit when two squads went to the lockers. Bokareva and Moore followed with two free throws each and Hasper added a jump shot to cap the 9-0 spurt in the second. The guests stayed closer at 37:35 with less than three minutes to go in the third period. Again it was Elena Danilochkina who closed the third quarter at 42:37. Sapova brought the most interesting moment in the beginning of the last quarter when she reduced the contest to 42:40, but BC Moscow had their tasks. With the help of Ekaterina Savelyeva and Monique Currie the home side increased the lead in the last quarter. Monique Currie set up the final score, 68:58 that gave BC Moscow total 138:126 victory.

UMMC Ekaterinburg and 7000 spectators were satisfied an hour ago after the second game of the Quarterfinals of Euroleague. UMMC beat one of the favorites CSKA 94:90 and advanced to the Final Four. Agnieszka Bibrzycka (184-F/G-82, college: Abil.Christian) paced the winners with 22 points. Sandrine Gruda (192-F/C-87) nailed 17, while Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) collected 14 points and 12 rebounds. Becky Hammon (168-G-77, college: Colorado St.) top-scored for the guests with 24 points. Lawson-Wade opened the game with a tap-in as CSKA took the first lead in the quarter. In a back-to back period the hosts enjoyed 24:19 advantage after 5-0 run in the last minute. Ekaterinburg found its game in the middle of the second as they led by as many as 12 points. Jones made it 45:33, but then CSKA reduced to 45:39 at the half time.Yelena Leuchanka brought the hosts the biggest lead at 62:48 advantage. The game could not go on the same stream and the visitors replied with 13-0 spurt. At first they finished the third with 65:61 and then tied the game at 68 for both squads. Aubert showed her quality again by nailing a three-ball before Stepanova replied with a basket to leave the game knotted at 73:73. Again Aubert shots from the arc for 76:73. Later in the period Becky Hammon answered with a three for 87:85. Her another shot from a far distance saw 93:90 with 11 seconds remaining, but Harrower's free throw sealed the win for UMMC.

Chairman's Cup: Grangemouth waiting for final's rival -by Luis RomeroGrangemouth secured their place at Scottish Cup finals day after an exciting semi-final with a combative Glasgow Uni.

The Uni came out full of energy in the first quarter, and if they had converted more of their fast breaks the result would have been vastly different. Grangemouth scored just enough to keep themselves in touch at 7:12 down after the 1st 10 mins.

Grangemouth swapped from man-man to a 3-2 zone, but the Uni took the game out to an 8 point lead. After a timeout Grangemouth managed to discover a bit more of a scoring touch in offence, and fought back to take the 2nd quarter 13-10, and hit half-time only down 20-22.

Grangemouth continued their momentum in the third to take the lead for the first time with better shooting and driving to the hoop, and eventually took the 3rd 15-10 to take a 3 point cushion into the last 10 minutes.

Grangemouth took the lead out to 9 points early in the 4th, but Uni took a timeout to sort matters. Inspired by good work from coach Adrienne Hunter, and good scoring from the game top scorer Llamas (20 in total), the Uni ate into the lead. Pressure defence from the Uni forced Grangemouth turnovers, and in the last half minute a 3 point effort from Llamas saw them lead by 1. Grangemouth's Pauline Dundas went to the hoop hard and drew the foul with 15 secs to go, and scored both free throws to reverse the 1 point difference... Glasgow was not able to score in last play and Grangemouth picked finals spot. Pauline Dundas scored 10 of Grangemouth's 14 points in the last quarter as well as landing the vital free throws.

Grangemouth now face winner of Midlothian Saints vs Edinburgh KoolKats 'B' team in the final on March 16, 10am tip. Last Chairman's Cup success for Grangemouth was in 2004.

Bourges Basket advanced to the Final Four and joined two Russian squads there. A 72:74 win in Istanbul allowed them to sweep the series over Fenerbahce. Five players scored more than 10 points for the winners. Belinda Snell (182-F-81, agency: LBM Management) led all of them with 20 points, while Endene Miyem (188-F-88) added 12. Cappie Pondexter (175-G-83, college: Rutgers) shone for the Turkish side with 31 points. After 85:69 in France Bourges Basket realized that the road to Istanbul will be tough. Petrovic gave the guests 0-3 lead after the shot from the arc. Emmeline Ndongue (194-F-83) with a tap-in and then a free trow kept french advantage to 2:8. It seemed that the visitors would not have problems in the game, but they already had them in the end of the first period. Vardarli's three reduced the gap to 16:19. Sutton-Brown with a jump-shot brought the hosts the first lead at 25:24. In a back-to-back period Bourges Basket was still in front. Sutton-Brown sent both squads to the lockers making 31:34 margin. A lay-up by Emmeline Ndongue opened another battle for the teams in the third quarter. Fenerbahce could not tie the game but stayed 3-4 points behind. Belinda Snell made it 41:44 and then her three-pointer reached 43:48. Lepron brought her team 45:52 lead before the final quarter. The last period was the game between Bourges Basket and Cappie Pondexter who took the leading skills of her team. She made first eight points of Fenerbahce that still trailed 53:62. Sutton-Brown reduced to 60:65 with 3.35 to play in the game. Cappie Pondexter scores another 9 points in a row for 69:70. She was the last to pour in the game but her free throw only gave 72:74 as Dumerc's four free throws reached the aim.

Galatasaray edged Electra Ramat-Hasharon from Israel to reach the semifinals of the EuroCup Women. After a road 69:74 win Turkish team won once more 70:53 to prove their ambitions. Esra Sencebe (170-G-81) led the winners with 20 points. Petra Ujhelyi (192-C-80, college: S.Carolina) collected 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Sophia Young (186-F-83, college: Baylor) netted 14. Daliborka Vilipic (196-C-75) finished the night with 15 points for the guests. The game was opened in an offensive style due to the last game result. Electra Ramat-Hasharon desired to tie the margin at once but trailed 3 points after the opening quarter. Sophia Young with a jump-shot made it 21:18 for the Turkish team. The visitors struggled against the vaunted defense of Galatasaray early on and trailed 37:22. Elektra responded by going on an 8-0 run that bridged the end of the second quarter and the start of the third. Daliborka Vilipic made the score 41:35 and hoped for staying closer with her team. Galatasaray hit their opponents with an 18-1 run to seal another victory of the campaign. Electra Ramat-Hasharon could score 8 last points of the game for 70:53 loss. Galatasaray wins 144:122 and advances to the semis.